The Scream Lord
by MiniWhovian
Summary: River is telepathically attacked by a creature called the Scream Lord. Her realistic hallucinations send her running around the TARDIS and shooting at nothing. Will the Doctor make it back in time to save her, or will the creature take over her body before he has a chance? This one was a request. Please review!
1. Chapter 1

The Doctor, River, Amy and Rory returned to the TARDIS after visiting Greece, 1673.

Upon passing the controls, River heard a high pitch scream. She flinched and looked at the Doctor, who was strolling pass the control panel happily.

"Did you not hear that?" River asked

"Hear what?" Asked the Doctor

"Um... never mind. Goodnight, sweetie." River said. She assumed she was just tired and that she was imagining things.

She reported to her bedroom and crawled under the covers, but she couldn't sleep. The continuous screams kept her up.

She sighed, got out of bed, and slipped on a fuzzy pair of slippers before walking to the controls.

"Doctor, I'm afraid we may have a small problem." River stated

"What happened? Is little Melody Pond having nightmares?" the Doctor teased.

"No, Doctor." River Song laughed

"Then what is it?" The Doctor was grinning

River flinched as she heard another scream. The Doctor's expression switch from enjoyment to concern.

"See, there are these repetitive screams that only I can seem to hear." River explained. The Doctor's expression then flashed from concern, to worry, to forced determination.

"Well, Old Girl, looks like we're going back to Greece." He told his TARDIS. He pressed a couple of random buttons, and the TARDIS jolted forward before spinning uncontrollably in a desperate attempt to return to where they had just been.

All of this ruckus ended up waking Amelia and Rory who then stumbled into the control room rubbing their eyes.

"Doctor, what's going on here?" Amy asked groggily

"Um, well you see, it seems we might have a problem."

"Doctor, maybe instead of confusing me even more, you could tell us what's going on?" River suggested

"Right then, well, it seem as if River is experiencing a sort of telepathic alien attack. This alien is called the Scream Lord. It develops a telepathic link with the victim," He motioned towards River "and attempts to well, um... take over, but River, I'm not going to let that happen to you. You may experience some hallucinations, because the Scream Lord is telepathic." The Doctor finished explaining.

"So, why are we going back to Greece, exactly?" River questioned

"Well, I figure if it developed the link with you, it had to do it there, so I'll look for it. Do you hear that, _I'll _look for it. You three must stay in the TARDIS, it's too dangerous to go wandering outside, you could get infected. Promise you'll stay in the TARDIS?" the Doctor asked

"Promise." They all said sadly.

"Try to get some sleep; I'll be back in no time." The Doctor said

River wanted to believe the Doctor, she wanted to think that he'd be back telling her he'd defeated the Scream Lord in no time. She wanted to believe thins, but she couldn't stop worrying about him.


	2. Chapter 2

A couple hours later, the Doctor still wasn't back. River's worries had gotten stronger, and so had the screams.

River was sitting on the railing in the control room when she heard a particularly loud shriek, and she was able to make out one word: help. She was certain that this was not in her head, so she followed the sound through a narrow hallway.

As she got closer to the noise, she began to recognize the voice. The screamer had a distinctive Scottish accent: Amy.

This discovery made River run, and as she sprinted around a corner, she spotted her mother who was against a wall, staring in the face of a dalek.

River pulled out her gun and shot the dalek 3 times, but the bullets passed straight through the creature. River stood there frozen. A million thoughts passed through her brain: _How had the daleks evolved? How could she save her mother? How did the dalek get in the TARDIS? Where was the Doctor?_

Her thoughts were interrupted, though, by someone calling her name.

"River, what are you doing?" Asked a familiar Scottish voice. River whipped around and came face to face with Amy.

"Impossible... you were..." River turned around, but that Amy was gone and the dalek had vanished.

"River, maybe you're experiencing the hallucinations the Doctor mentioned." Amy reasoned

River took a moment to catch her breath and then said,

"Yeah, you're right. That's what happened." She shook her head, pulling herself together. She took a deep breath and put on her signature smile before saying, "Alright, darling, sorry I woke you, let's get to bed now."

They walked down the narrow hallway leading to their rooms, but River kept looking back at the spot her hallucination had been. She kept thinking: _of all the things I could hallucinate about, why would I imagine my mother dying?_


	3. Chapter 3

River tried to go to sleep, but the screams were so loud and her developing headache was throbbing. She tossed and turned in her bed, until she finally stood up, turned on her lamp and sat down on a chair facing the hallway.

She was leaning back on her chair staring up at the ceiling when she heard a door open. She rushed to the control room, hoping it was the Doctor preparing to tell her that he had defeated the Scream Lord.

As she entered the control room, she saw the Doctor, his bowtie untied, his jacket half off and his hair dangling on his forehead.

At first, she was relieved to see the Doctor, hopeful that the screams would soon be over, but she soon realized a critical detail: he was crawling on the floor and gasping for air.

River ran to his side, placing one hand on his forehead.

"Sweetie, are you okay? What happened?" River asked tentatively

"I... I" The Doctor struggled, gasping for air "I co- I... couldn't." Then his eyes closed forever.

"No, no. It's not possible!" River cried. The cry woke Amy and she entered the control room to find her daughter leaning over nothing

"River, what the heck are you doing?"Amy asked sleepily

"Amy, I'm so sorry, it seems as if the Doctor was not able to,"

"River you're hallucinating, no one's there." Amy interrupted. River stared at the now vacant floor.

"I... I swear the hallucinations are getting more and more realistic." River whispered

"Maybe, you should just stay with me. So that you know what is real." Amy suggested

"Yeah, that could work. Thanks."

River tried to keep her cool as they made their way to Amy's room, but the images of the people she cared most about dying were terrifying, she couldn't even imagine what the Scream Lord had in store for her next and, frankly, she didn't want to.


	4. Chapter 4

River sat down in a chair beside Amy's bed and closed her eyes. When she opened them, though, she did not see the walls of her mother's room. Instead, she found herself in a poorly lit hallway.

River knew she was hallucinating, but she couldn't seem to snap herself out of it.

"Hello, River. Or would you prefer me to call you... _sweetie_?" A rough, unfamiliar voice asked

"Who are you?" River said, she looked up trying to find where the voice was coming from, but the lighting was so dim that she couldn't make out even a silhouette of someone.

"Oh, you know very well who I am... I am the feared, evil... SCREAM LORD!" He laughed a maniacal, terrifying laugh.

"I know I'm hallucinating, but you can't take over, I will not allow it!" River screamed

"Well, let's just see about that, shall we? Why don't we just turn the lights on?" The lights flickered at first until they steadied, revealing two bodies: Amy and the Doctor. They were lying on the floor, lifeless.

"River!" Rory yelled, he looked at her with a face of fear and helplessness.

River Song reached out to him over the corpses, but before she could touch him, he fell to the ground, never to get up again.

"I know this isn't real, so stop it! Just stop it!" River cried

"These are your worst fears, correct?" the Scream Lord began "everybody you love died and there's nothing you can do to save them." He laughed his horrible laugh again.

River didn't have anything to say to that, instead she closed her eyes tight, wishing for it all to go away.

When she opened her eyes once again, she found herself in a familiar room, but it wasn't the comforting type of familiar she'd hoped for, she was in the room of a woman she despised. A women who had taken her. Used her. Madame Kovarian.

Madame Kovarian now approached her, smiling and laughing and being her horrible self.

River shut her eyes for a long time, hoping she would find herself back in the TARDIS.

She did find herself in the TARDIS when she opened her eyes, but not in Amy's room. Instead she was in a narrow hallway.

At first, she was alone as she made her way down the hallway aimlessly. Soon, though she was greeted by the unpleasant, but now familiar sight of Amy, Rory and the Doctor dead.

She looked forward, knowing that if she looked into the faces of any of her loved ones she would cry.

She walked down the hallway to find Madame Kovarian laughing, daleks exterminating the ones she cared most about as they cried out to her and the Scream Lord's laugh in the background.

River kept walking down this hallway until she realized that she wasn't going anywhere. She leaned against a wall and was soon surrounded by images of her fears.

She closed her eyes tighter than ever before and slid her hands over them.

When she opened her eyes, she found herself alone, floating in space, amongst unnamed stars. There were no planets, no space junk, besides the stars, she was absolutely _alone_.

"Here it is." The Scream Lord said after a minute. "Your worst fear. You're all alone, no one you can save, and most importantly... No. One. To. Save. You."


	5. Chapter 5

River shut her eyes, and when she opened them, she saw the Doctor, Amy and River hovering over her.

"I was able to defeat the Scream Lord, River; you've been unconscious for a couple days." The Doctor informed her

They all looked relieved to see her, and she was relieved to see them, the real them. They laughed and hugged and River told them about the hallucinations she'd experienced.

River was relieved and happy... until, she saw a gun emerging from the wall...

"Duck!" River exclaimed, but her mother, father and husband remained standing still. With three shots they were all dead.

River stared at the gun, with the shooter still hidden behind the wall. Her first thought was to duck, to run, to get out of there, but the gun looked oddly... familiar.

River Song stared as a curly-haired, well-dressed insane-looking woman emerged from her hiding spot.

"Hello, sweetie!" The image said. River stared at an identical version of herself.

_I'm still hallucinating... _River thought. The thought made her partially relieved, that her family was still alive, but it also made her partially terrified. The Scream Lord was still out there, seeping into a deeper level of her consciousness.

"Get out of here." River told her hallucinated self.

"No. Look at them. They're _dead_. It's _your _fault."

"No. See, that's where you're wrong. I'm not you anymore. You're a psychopath. You're a Madame Kovarian possessed maniac." River knew she was talking to her hallucination, therefore herself, but she felt as if she had to convince her actual self of the fact she was insisting upon.

"_You're_ the psychopath, running away with your precious Doctor, and screwing up time for your own selfish need to save him."

"I'm in _love. _ You're in_sane_." With that, River Song shut her eyes, making hallucinated River vanish and hoping to make this artificial world disappear.


	6. Chapter 6

River opened her eyes to find herself in the control room of the TARDIS. She was alone for a second, until she heard a rough voice.

"I'm baack." It sang. "Did you miss me? Ha! Of course you did!"

River turned around to find a middle-aged man sitting on the railing and dangling his legs happily.

"I'm not scared of you, I'm not. So just stop it." River insisted

"You seem to have forgotten something very important. I'm. In. Control. Here." The Scream Lord grinned and laughed

"No, you're in my _head_ I'm _hallucinating_. I can close my eyes and I'll find myself in Amy's room and the Doctor is out there finding you right now."

"Your precious Doctor can't find me, I'm right _here_." He said opening his arms wide gesturing to the space around him.

River was feeling horrible, helpless and alone when she heard a familiar voice.

"River, listen to me, focus on my voice. This is the Doctor, I'm real, River, I'm not a hallucination. _Believe _me." He said

River didn't know if she should believe it, but it didn't seem she had much choice.

_Okay_ she thought, hoping the Doctor could hear her.

"Listen very carefully. I can't help you here; all I can do is tell you what you have to do. He's in your head, he's tapped into your mind and he's trying to take control. You have to fight him. Fight back, River. He will try to convince you that he's in control, but it's your mind.

"My theory is, if you know that something will work, it will. Have you ever realized you were dreaming? For example, say you were dreaming about falling down a cliff, then you realized you were dreaming, and you could fly or something. This is like your dream River. You're falling down a cliff... now fly. You can do anything to defeat him; you just have to know you can." The Doctor

River looked at the Scream Lord. He was grinning; he obviously did not hear the Doctor.

River reached for her gun, but it was gone. It was now in the Scream Lord's hand. River reached out her own hand and the gun flew into it.

River smiled, the Doctor had been right, she just had to know she could do anything and it would work. Maybe she would have a little fun... but then she thought back to when she'd hallucinated her former self, she wasn't a psychopath anymore; she didn't want to torture the guy.

Instead, River used her mind to send the Scream Lord down onto the floor. Just as he closed his eyes forever, River opened her own, in the real world.

Her actual family smiled as she opened her eyes in the control room. Her first thought was that it was another hallucination, but the Doctor explained they had moved her here to use some of the TARDIS' technology so that the Doctor could set up a firm telepathic link to contact River.

River still wasn't certain why the hallucinations had been of her worst fears, maybe it was her own subconscious way of facing them, perhaps the Scream Lord wanted to make her weaker, but either way, she felt stronger. She felt that she could cope with her fears, knowing that she would never be truly alone.

** The End! :)**


End file.
